Winifred Pantol Daly

Winifred Pantol Daly was born in Congers, NY, in 1922. Growing up, she worked in her parents’ general store and served as the editor of her high school newspaper. 

As soon as she found out the WAVES* were created, she enlisted. At 20, she had to have a permission form signed by her parents because she was under 21 years old. 

She trained at Oklahoma State College (now the University of Oklahoma) in Stillwater, OK. She graduated in the first class of WAVES and served on active duty from October 9, 1942, until November 11, 1945, in the rank of Yeoman 1st Class. She served in Washington, DC, in the office of the Chief of Naval Operations, and at the Navy Yard in Pearl Harbor, HI. In Hawaii she was a member of the radar radio pool. She was awarded the Navy Good Conduct Medal, the Asiatic Pacific Campaign Medal, and the World War II Victory Medal.

In 1945, she was released to inactive duty in the Naval Reserve of the United States, which she remained in until December 3, 1953.

She got a job as a secretary at the Atomic Energy Commission in Washington, DC, and worked for General Kenneth Nichols, the General Manager of the AEC. In 1956, she moved back to New York to care for her ailing father. She met a former Marine Gunnery Sergeant, John Daly, and they got married in 1960. The couple had two children and three grandchildren, and both passed away within four months of one another in 2010.